Jim Reed, Ted Bodensteiner, Craig Schlienz and all the other volunteers who make up Shellabration Inc. have done it again.

On Saturday night, about 5,000 people crammed into the intersection of Central Avenue and Ninth Street for this year’s Downtown Country Jam concert. They were treated to rousing performances by Trace Adkins, The Boys and Fort Dodge’s own Jared Benson.

Local volunteers worked behind the scenes for months to make the show possible, then shifted into really high gear the day before the concert to get everything set up. On Saturday morning, they dealt with a fresh challenge thanks to a storm that wrecked much of what was set up on Friday And before the sun rose on Sunday, they took everything down and restored the intersection to normal.

It is worth noting that no one on the Shellabration Inc. team is a professional concert promoter or organizer. They all have regular jobs in the community. When it comes to planning concerts, they put their energy and unrestrained enthusiasm to work, supported by lessons learned from organizing events for the past 23 years.

The Shellabration Inc. saga began in 2002, when Reed and then City Councilman John Hale organized a concert to raise money for the restoration of the Oleson Park Bandshell. That concert featured The Fab Four, a Beatles tribute band.

That was the first of several fundraising concerts the duo organized to pay for the bandshell project. Shows by Three Dog Night, The Doobie Brothers, Chicago and other performers usually seen only in major cities followed.

After the bandshell project was finished, Shellabration Inc. began setting aside profits from the concerts to help pay for future concerts.

Then in 2017, a new genre of music was added with the Downtown Country Jam. The site was picked by Reed, who apparently has a unique gift for looking at a rather basic downtown intersection and envisioning people gathering there for a concert. The Downtown Country Jam has featured Randy Houser and Chris Janson, among others.

Saturday’s concert took the Downtown Country Jam to a new level — a sell-out. The 5,000 people who attended the show pushed the downtown intersection venue to its limits. As a result, the concert will move to Harlan and Hazel Rogers Sports Complex next year.

In a remarkable achievement, Shellabration Inc. has already booked a headliner act for the 2026 show — Grammy winner Travis Tritt. To have the next year’s headliner signed before the current year’s show has even started is something that has never happened before.

We who live in Fort Dodge and surrounding communities are beyond lucky to be able to enjoy this high caliber of musical entertainment right here at home. It is all thanks to the efforts of the Shellabration Inc. volunteers.

Shellabration Inc. is a true asset to the community, enhancing its quality of life with outstanding musical entertainment.